


A Last Christmas Present

by Nethwen



Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: F/M, Suicide, Zombie Apocalypse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-26
Updated: 2016-05-26
Packaged: 2018-07-10 09:23:03
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,086
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6977518
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nethwen/pseuds/Nethwen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Facing the last days of apocalypse, Derek had one final task before him</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Last Christmas Present

**Author's Note:**

  * A translation of [Ein letztes Weihnachtsgeschenk](https://archiveofourown.org/works/3487004) by [Nethwen](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nethwen/pseuds/Nethwen). 



> This was my secret santa gift for someone, a while back.
> 
> The original is in German.
> 
> This is the first time that I translated something to English, so please be kind. 
> 
> I thank my beta very much for her help and advice.

A Last Christmas Present

Derek stared into space, the sun would go down in a few minutes. The horrors of the night would come with the darkness, which the day held away. Normally, he would now start to lay a ring of firewood around their camp. This ring was the guarantee that his baby girl and himself were safe for he night. A brittle safety, more like a Fata Morgana of safety, a promise of security, until the sun would rise again. Not this time, not for them both.  
It was now nearly 15 years ago when it all started going to hell. They had all been at the BAU at that time when the news came. A virus , a very dangerous microorganism had been stolen from Fort Ditrix and the Unsubs had it unleashed unto the world. It was a form of anthrax, deadlier than any other form. But something went wrong when the virus mixed with the air. It didn't just kill anymore, it transformed its hosts into zombies.  
"A zombie, an undead being created through the reanimation of a human corpse. The origin of the word is West African, and is similar to the Kongo words nzambi (god) and zumbi (fetish)." He still could hear Spencer's voice in his head. Derek fought against the tears burning in his eyes. It was 10 years ago when his best friend became infected and Derek had to shoot him before he could turn in a brainless thing.

Everyone on the team was dead, except for Penelope and him. He had no idea why. They both had so much contact with infectecd people, but they never got ill. Often enough, they both had to flee, to fight. Every time they got away.., and every time they lost friends.

The first was Hotch, shortly after the breakout. Jack had gotten ill and luckily for him, died, but Hotch couldn't deal with the pain, loss and blame. He put a bullet through his own head.

One year later it was Emily, who fell into an old underground shaft and broke her neck, after their successful escape from a horde of zombies.  
JJ and her son Henry were killed 2 years after that. Their group was attacked by a large mob of the enemy. The blonde and her child got separated from the group, got trapped and then ripped apart by the monsters. To this day, Derek could hear the screams of his longtime friend and her child.

Rossi had the most merciful death of them all. He dropped dead one day. Probably a heart attack, that was what Spencer suspected. That was half a year before Spencer got infected.  
Derek closed his eyes, they still were burning with unshed tears.

Ten years… ten years, his baby girl and him had been alone. Ten years of searching for other survivors in the USA. But they never found anyone, maybe the others had found better places, or they survived on other countinents or… or Penelope and he were the last of mankind.  
He brought his attention to the blonde woman to his side. His beautiful Penelope, dear heaven, had she changed over the last decade.

Her hair streaked with grey, she was so thin. Her face had become hard from all the horrors they had seen. But for Derek she was still the most beautiful woman he had ever had the luck of meeting.

At one time in the five years of their journey, they both had begun to understand that their love was not a love between brother and sister, but a romantic one.  
What began as a search for comfort in the nights for both, had grown into something else. He just couldn‘t imagine a world without her. Derek loved her more than his own life.

A small smile crossed over his face when he thought of all the nights and days they spent together in this tent. It was the only thing that made them forget for short moments. They forgot they were alone, death everywere.

In his prayers, Derek was thankful that their love hadn't had consequences. They couldn’t have raised a child, not with the danger everywhere. More importantly, neither Penelope nor him could have coped if they had lost it.

For Derek, it was like yesterday when Penelope told him that she really loved him that and their nights together were not only to relieve the stress.

It was kind of funny at that time. Both had fought, he had no idea about what anymore, just something about chrismas and how to celebrate it.  
Out of nowhere, Penelope had slapped him across the face, had screamed at him, that she loved him and that christmas was a celebration of love and family. Spencer had laughed so hard when he'd seen Derek's face, and Rossi… well Rossi had only grinned and shaken his head.  
Today was their 12th anniversary.

They had been on the lam for fifteen years now. Both of them had become stronger, faster, more skillful, clever and had learned things they never thought possible.  
But in the last few months he had noticed he was getting old. He now was in his fifties and the life he had lived in the last years was becoming too much. He had no idea how long he could still protect them. His eyes were getting weaker… more than weak, and fast. That could be his death one day, or Penelope's. Well, that would be his death either way, because he would’t survive that last possibility. Not for long.  
But the thought that struck him most was that if he were killed, Penelope would be all alone in this world with these monsters and probably would become one of them. That could never happen.  
He grabbed his gun, felt its heaviness in his right hand and how familiar it was.  
Derek looked again over to his baby girl who still was sleeping, bent over and kissed her on the lips.  
"I love you.", he whispered. "This is my last gift to you. Merry christmas, my baby girl… wait for me on the other side." The barrel of the gun found its way to the occipital lobe of he woman he loved. The sound of the shot resonated in his ears, his hands were covered in blood and his falling tears.  
"I’m right behind you, baby girl…", he put the barrel under his chin and as the sun disappeared behind the horizon, he pulled the trigger.

The End


End file.
